New Polling Shows Widespread Concern Over Rising Energy Costs & Emerging Data Centers

Our sister organization, the NCLCV Foundation, recently released new polling which shows North Carolinians are overwhelmingly reporting concern with higher energy bills, support for clean energy as part of the solution, and concern for emerging data centers. You can see the news release and access the full poll here.

Here are the key takeaways:

• North Carolinians overwhelmingly report utility costs have gone up in the past year (80%)
• Clean and renewable energy is popular, and support for increasing it is high.
• Opposition to data centers outweighs support by a wide margin statewide (33% support to 48% oppose) and is even stronger in the counties most directly affected (35% support to 52% oppose).

High Energy Costs

“Concern about the rising cost of electricity is top of mind for North Carolinians,” said Carrie Clark, executive director for NCLCVF. “With wind and solar power generation being the most cost-effective and fastest to get online electricity generation, we hope folks recognize clean, renewable energy is an important part of the solution.”

An overwhelming majority of North Carolina voters (80%) say the cost of utilities – like electricity and heating – has gone up in the past year, with 35% of those saying they have gone up a lot, while only 17% say they stayed about the same, and a mere 2% report they have gone down.

Clean and renewable energy is popular in North Carolina, with 61% favorable feelings about each. On the other end of the scale, only 30% feel favorable towards fossil fuels. There is also strong support for increasing clean and renewable energy (74%) and reducing reliance on fossil fuels (63%) in North Carolina.

How Do North Carolinians Feel About Data Centers?

The poll, which includes an oversample of voters from NC counties where data centers are already operating or have been proposed, shows North Carolinians oppose data centers and believe the downsides outweigh the benefits.

Opposition to data centers outweighs support by a wide margin statewide (33% support to 48% oppose) and is even stronger in the counties most directly affected (35% support to 52% oppose). More North Carolinians believe the downsides outweigh the benefits (43% downsides to 25% benefits), while 16% believe they are equal and 16% have no idea. In terms of the three most important impacts of data centers, the cost of electricity is the biggest impact (58%), while the availability of clean drinking water where you live is second (43%). Impact on the local economy (41%) and the availability of good-paying jobs in your community (36%) aren’t nearly as significant.

Clark says, “we are encouraged to see North Carolinians understand the concerns about data centers; significant energy use and water use have much bigger impacts than promises of economic benefits.”

Turning Concern Into Action

We have an important task ahead of us: turning these concerns into action. Whether that’s contacting our lawmakers or turning our communities out to vote, we must do what we can to protect our environment and our communities. Help make a difference in this year’s election and in communities across the state by becoming a sustaining donor today.